I just got back from Vegas--actually, that's not true, I just woke up from one of the craziest 24 hours of my life. Real quick summary: found out on thursday that Prince was doing an aftershow in Vegas on Friday night at 2am. I live in LA, I am a physician, and I had a national medical exam scheduled at 8am on Saturday, in LA. So you would think that, in and of itself, would make me not go to Vegas--THINK AGAIN I went to Vegas, saw Prince perform from 2:30-4:30am, then jumped on a plane to LA at 6:30am and on o sleep mind you, made it just in time to take my exam. Now I'm nt going to say I did very well on the test, because I didn't (I just hope I passed). But one thing is for sure--I have seen Prince over 10 times, and this show was hands down THE BEST PRINCE CONCERT I'VE EVER BEEN TO!!! Shall we begin? Flew in from LA and landed in Vegas at 10pm, went straight to the Mandalay Hotel where the House of Blues is and immediately recognized folks from the previous Prince Celebration I went to (the first one, in 2001). The Bay NPG was in full effect! Got my tickets and got in line at the House of Blues at around 1:30am. They didn't let us in until 2am, and Prince and his band didn't hit the stage until 2:30am. But the second Candy, and Maceo, and Greg Boyer, Renaldo, RAD, Rhonda, Mr.Blackwell, and Prince took the stage, we knew we were in for a treat. You know why? Cause Larry Graham was not in the house--now don't get me wrong, I think Larry is an amazing bassist, but I was never to fond of his influence on Prince. But without Larry, it was as if Prince was back to how he was back in the day: spiritual, playful, and most importantly, unburdened of having to spread the word about Christ. "Vegas!" Prince yelled into the mic. "It's not too late is it?" he said with a smirk. And then the bank kicked into this incredible MUSICAL INSTRUMENTAL INTRODUCTION reminiscent of the into on Small Club. Maceo led the way on the sax, but Prince wasn't far behind on the guitar, laying lick for lick with Maceo. Then they kicked into MUSICOLOGY--boy, I really am beginning to like this song. It just keeps on getting better and better the more I hear it. Then Prince said into the mic how this was some sort of rehearsal, and he was glad we came to party with him. Kind of reminded me of the Sign of the Times gig he did at First Avenue in '87 previewing new material of his upcoming album. The next song he did I had never heard before but it sounded tremendous. It's called DEAR MR. MAN. Then Prince drifted into a few covers of KNOCK ON WOOD and WHAT IS HIP before he dropped the bomb on us...SHHH, BREAK IT DOWN...All I gotta say is WOW! Prince on his white guitar arched his back with every guitar solo so artfully played, it was truly breathtaking. Even brought tears to the eyes of the girl standing next to me. And the stage lighting at the House of Blues was perfect! It really didn't feel like we were on earth at this point--it was as if we were in some other world, Prince's world, and nothing else mattered but the blistering solos blaring off Prince's white guitar. And then what was next? DANCE MUSIC SEX ROMANCE! Except this version was slowed down a little with more heavy bass playing by Rhonda mixed in with Renaldo on the keys. The crowd was really jumping to this tune! Then he broke out his old high school song, I FEEL FOR U and everyone sang along happily. But this was just the prelude to...CONTROVERSY!!! I mean, get the fuck out of here! Are you telling me I heard Controversy at the House of Blues in Las Vegas at 3:30 in the morning?? This blew my mind, and everyone else in the place. PEOPLE CALL ME RUDE, I WISH WE ALL WERE NUDE, I WISH THERE WAS NO BLACK AND WHITE, I WISH THERE WERE NO RULES!! If I could describe the energy in the house at that time, my words would be jumping off the paper. After he did a 7 minute version of Controversy, he walked off the stage and Candy came out and sang a song I had never heard before blowing her sax stupid (stupid meaning incredible). Then Prince returned with his brown guitar and played the opening notes of SWEET THING, and the whole crowd started singing I WILL LVOE YOU ANYWAY, EVEN IF YOU CAN NOT STAY...And Prince played along on his guitar never once singing a word, but just letting his guitar do all the talking. It was so beautiful to hear the audience carry the song with Prince on the guitar. When he finished the crowd gave a long ovation before he started back, "HE ONLY KNEW HER FOR A LITTLE WHILE, BUT HE HAD GROWN ACCUSTOMED TO HER STYLE..." And Greg Boyer, Candy, and Maceo took this GIRLS AND BOYS to a new level. Beautiful horns. I mean tremendous horns! And when they played their horns, they all kind of started dancing around one another, and each time they would face the crowd they would bow their head before belting louder into their horn. It's so great to have Greg Boyer back in the NPG. Now if Prince could just call up Miko and get him back in the band, and Eric Leeds...(I'm a sucker for the Nude Tour NPG). Then Prince led the band into a rousing ending of a song called MAMA FEELGOOD. Prince would ask, "How do y'all feel?" "Feel Good!" we shouted back at him. "Feel Good!" "Feel Good!" And we all genuinely did. And this was probably my favorite part of the show, not because it was my favorite song, but it was during this song I stood there, looking at Prince, and as his band jammed he was in his own world, just flat out dancing his ass off! He was at the right side of the stage and you could see how much he was enjoying his band jam, just nodding his head back and forth as if he had never heard anything this funky before. Prince was raising his arms and pumping his fists in the air, pointing at people in the crowd, smiling, sweating, before he sincerely yelled, "I love partying with you Vegas! It means so much to me that you are here with me! It really is important to me." And just like that, he did it--expressed his appreciation for us that we were there to dance with him to the wee hours of the morning--that right there made me feel so proud and happy that I decided to come to Vegas even though it meant I was going to be taking a test on no sleep the next day. And then the band left the stage and returned after 10 minutes of the place going crazy! Prince, center stage of course, started strumming his brown guitar..."DESPERATE IS THE DAY THAT IS TOMORROW, FOR THOSE WHO DO NOT KNOW THE TIME HAS COME..." Are you kidding me?? Did Prince just break out THE LOVE WE MAKE from Emacipation as the encore?? You damn right! And slowly but surely the band built up to a crescendo and Prince yelled his heart out, his trademark yell, like how he yells in "The Beautiful Ones", and he screamed "Sacred is the prayer that asks for nothing!" And he took our breath away. He thanked us again and the band broke off the stage, before returning 5 minutes later for the second encore, DOWN BY THE RIVERSIDE, New Orleans jazz style. And again Candy and Maceo and Greg Boyer all blew their horns circling one another. And one of Prince's bodyguards (The huge black guy) even came out and started dancing on stage with everyone, all in pure fun. And then Prince and Maceo squared off against each other, one facing the other, just trading licks between Maceo's sax and Prince's guitar! Finally, they closed the show with AMERICA, And it was during America where Rhonda's bass has never sounded so good, so hard, so deep, so phunky!!! And Prince, instead of singing the words, blasted the notes off his guitar "America America God Shed his Grace on thee!" Phunky is all I can say. "Jimmy nothing never went to school..." And then AMERICA SEGUED INTO ALL THE CRITICS LOVE U IN LAS VEGAS. And depite it being 4:30 in the morning, Prince still had the House of Blues shaking. And I can't tell you how I'm still shaking, still marveling over the performance saw last night, wishing I was in Vegas again for tonight's show

Mmmmhhh, reads really, really GOOD!
Damn, I wish I could have heard Controversy, DMSR, Musicology and THE LOVE WE MAKE... I mean, WHAT THE...!

longest paragraph ever!

Sounded like you had a great time, thanks for posting.

Thanks for the review

White Guitar, Brown Guitar, Maceo's Sax, Greg's Trombone, Rhonda's bass - this all comes together to drop the funk.

When the US and Europe finally get to hear Prince dropping Controversy 2004-style they won't know what hit them - fuck 1984 - this is the year - 2004!!!

wow! this reminds me of last october...

and yes, I don't think Prince has ever enjoyed his work as much as he is now.

'The Love We Make' live, that must have been something!

Oh yes, that's one of the classics I'd LOVE to hear... Controversy!

thnks 4 the post...wish i could have been there;-)

wonderful review

thanks 4 taking us

right there

with u

Sounds alright, though if I go to a Prince concert, I would like to hear more Prince songs (not that I would mind hearing him play Sweet Thing...).

BUT that concert seems to have been worth it simply for the fact that he played The Love We Make. Bastard - I was so hoping for him to play that when he did his solo acoustic guitar stint in London. Ah well.

tht was a really kool read, cheers

one of the best reviews ever! thanks for sharing!

Holy Shit!! you lucky MF. The Love We Make!!! Damn!! Why couldn't he play that at ONA Seattle or Vancity??

Sounds boring as hell!! If it's anything like that HongKong crap...


makes a swift exit, before I get the shit beat outta me

that's a huge paragraph.

That sounds so good! I wish i had been there.
Hearing 'The Love We Make' alone would have been worth it.

WoW! I'm speechless. The anxiety is building!

Nice review!Thanks.LarryG.... R.I.P.





















just kiddin..
[This message was edited Sun Feb 1 10:00:38 PST 2004 by PhilG]

Thanks for the review - good stuff

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Handclapsfingasnapz said:

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Did it occur to you this guy is tired. Give dude a break.

It is a great review !!!

Controversy

Great review.

You're a Doctor in LA? Cosmetic surgery? Do you get to play with boobies all day?

Oh man, I'm with the Love We Make enthusiasts...did he play a full version of this? I REALLY yearn for the full, drawn-out versions of these songs, which doesn't always mean going into a jazz/funk jam...Love We Make is a great example. Did he talk about the Music Club or The Truth at all?

Controversy!,Shhh, D.M.S.R!!!... Damn, I can't wait!
Loud guitar and deep funk, now that's what I'm talkin' about.

That he sang Controversy full version with the black n white nude no rules portion is quite telling

rdhull said:

He sang that version in Australia too!

Great review!

Thanks man!


.
[This message was edited Sun Feb 1 13:57:17 PST 2004 by bkw]

rdhull said:

WHOOO HOOO!!!


Thanks for that detail, man. THAT'S what I wanna hear!!!

Great review. Oh man! "The Love We Make"? What a highlight that must have been.
Thanks for taking the time, Phunk. Wish I could have been there, but you helped take us all there!